1. Field of the Invention
The compounds of the present invention are novel silanol ether compounds. Compounds of the invention are prepared by the ethoxylation and/or propoxylation of the hydroxyl group in the silanol compound. By virtue of their silanol backbone these compounds are highly lubricious and provide outstanding lubrication and hydrophobicity when applied to hair, skin and textile fibers. The incorporation of alkylene oxide into the backbone results in a self emulsifying product which is surprisingly effective in delivering silicone to the substrate being treated. The compounds of the present invention are prepared by reacting a silanol compound with ethylene oxide and/or propylene oxide in the presence of a suitable catalyst.
The present invention relates to a series of novel silanol alkoxylates which provide outstanding lubrication, and hydrophobicity to a variety of substrates and are self emulsifying. This aspect of the invention makes it possible for the compounds to be applied from aqueous dispersion without the addition of surfactants which minimize the effectiveness of the application to the substrate being treated.
2. Arts and Practices
Silicone compounds have been known to be active at the surface of plastic, cellulosic and synthetic fibers as well as paper. They are good nondurable lubricants and are very stable to oxidation, however, their high cost and lack of efficiency at low concentrations as well as low durability have made their acceptance in commercial products quite low. In all instances, commercially available quats are the active ingredient in traditional laundry care markets, with little or no silicone added.
The low efficiency and low durability of polydimethylsiloxane is due to the fact that it is very water insoluble and deposits on the surface to obtain a minimum free energy in the solution. Simply, the silicone oil delivery to the surface by hydrophobic binding, not chemical bonding. At the surface, the polydimethylsiloxane is a very effective fiber lubricant, however, there are two drawbacks, first; the polydimethylsiloxane is not chemically bonded so the effect is very transient and disappears with one washing, and second; since there is no reaction of the siloxane to the surface an equilibrium between fiber absorbed polydimethylsiloxane and polydimethylsiloxane in the dispersion results in very inefficient percentage of silicone deposited. A large amount of the expensive silicone goes down the drain with the waste water.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,699 to Sterman issued May 12, 1970 teaches that epoxy compounds placed in the silicone backbone by hydrosilation can be cured onto certain fibers to give improved substantivity. The substantivity is based upon the reaction of hydroxyl groups on the cellulosic and the epoxy group in the silicone polymer. The resulting bond is a ether linkage and a new hydroxyl group. While a definite improvement over other compounds the efficiency and durability of the were not good enough to allow for cost effective incorporation of these materials in detergent formulations.